A few minutes later, the Melbourne City guard stepped into the small office and took his seat on the other side of the table with a sigh. He cast one sour look at the documents on his table and regarded the two boys, unfazed by their presence.

"Short line for a Merchant City!" Brett observed.

The guard looked over his papers, then pushed them to the side while pinching the bridge of his nose, "That's normal for a falling Merchant City. More departures than arrivals. Everyone's looking to save their own skin."

"Why's that?"

"For survival," the man shrugged, "First things first. What temper rank are you, Investigator?"

The guard's whole demeanour had changed in the time between them entering the City and this interview. The hope that had shone in his eyes moments ago was long gone.

"Glass Rank Seventh Level," Brett responded with a hint of pride.

"That sounds about right for a sixteen-year-old," the guard sighed, "There go our hopes."

"I'm fifteen," Brett smirked, "I'm Black Generation. I have an A-class guardian."

The guard's eyes went wide with shock, "A-class? Fifteen and you've already made it through seven levels? That's impressive, indeed. Perhaps you're not so useless."

"You mustn't underestimate us," Finn spoke up next, his voice cold and firm.

"Underestimate?" the guard chuckled, "That's only for the strong to say. A-class guardian or not, the two of you are out of your depths here. Get out while you still can and return with a lieutenant or a Squad Captain. Someone of the Steel Rank."

Brett's blood went cold. "Steel Rank?!"

The guard sighed, "Yes. I can't say more at the risk of losing my life. But you should leave this city. The only hope left for our people is an evacuation. And even then, they'd be handing themselves over to the demons."

"What if we helped with the evacuation?" Finn tried, "Believe it or not, we were part of the force that fought the demons at Earl's Hollow."

"I heard of a woman with a bow so strong it could bring down a mountain. Do you have her with you?" the guard raised a brow, completely skipping over Finn's words like they were meaningless.

"No, we do not have Lady Darla with us," Brett sighed, "Perhaps we can help with the evacuation. We came here to help, and that's what we shall do. Also, to bring in reinforcements, I need something to back my claims. What is happening in this city? Tell us what you can and leave out the parts that would put your life in danger."

The guard looked around, then rushed to the door and closed it before returning to his seat. "Red Cloaks have been here for five days. Rumours have it that they've found who they are looking for. A boy. I think he's Black Generation, too. I don't know what they want with him but apparently he left early this morning on a quest and that pissed them off. The Adventurer's Guildmaster is at the peak stages of the Stone Rank yet even he was no match for the Red Cloaks."

"Stone Rank soldiers?" Brett gasped, "How could no one notice their absence?"

"Don't ask me, boy. Just watch your mouth and stay away from the building called the Sisters of Fragrance," the soldier replied. "There is an inn not far from the adventurer's guild. You can rest there while we get the wagons ready for the first evacuation. Be back here in two. We leave at first light."

…………………

Finn sank into his bed at the inn only for his door to burst open, admitting a rather restless, dark-skinned boy. Brett closed the door behind him and started pacing about the room, fidgeting with his fingers.

The boy on the bed followed his movements for a bit before turning around to face the wall. His body was aching, as usual, and a good rest would have been much appreciated. Unfortunately, he knew the kind of pacing his friend was currently displaying.

Finn sighed, "Are you going to tell me what's got you so riled up?"

Brett clicked his tongue, "Well, think about it. That guard wouldn't tell us what's happening? The guildmaster here is supposedly strong. I asked around, and he goes by the name Schiller. Apparently, he's one of the reasons the Red Cloaks have been behaving themselves."

Finn nodded silently, "So, he's powerful. I'm sure you've got a point somewhere in all that information."

"The point is that Red Cloaks have never once threatened to destroy a city, especially not for some random boy. They are supposed to stand for the empire," Brett responded.

Finn sat up and leaned against the wall, barely managing a frown. "You're thinking the Dark Mage who Darla mentioned is the reason everyone's on edge?"

"Yes. And from what I've been able to dig up, everything's pointing to the building that guard talked about—Sisters of Fragrance," the dark boy responded.

Finn rubbed the back of his head. "Is there a way we can come out of this without messing with that lot?"

"The flower sellers? You have history?" Brett raised an eyebrow.

"Not yet. But I'd like to steer clear of them. They have a wide sphere of influence, and they deal in much more than just flowers. Alchemists go there for rare ingredients, even auction houses sometimes fail to get. They hoard most of the supply and charge highly," Finn responded, "I'd rather not get involved with them."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Okay! I hear you," Brett nodded enthusiastically, "Just come with me and let's stake out the area."

Moments later, the two boys were seated inside a restaurant with large glass windows providing a view of the outside. Fortunately, it wasn't directly opposite as to make it look obvious that the boys were staking out the place while not being too far for them to be blind to what was happening. It was the perfect spot, so they took a seat by the window, taking tea and talking about random things.

The restaurant was mostly empty, and the staff wouldn't come out front unless absolutely necessary. A horn rested on the table, humming with aether and covered in runes that maintained a couple of magical functions. A dome of silence from which no sound escaped to ward off eavesdropping and a spell that made them easy to overlook and thus inconspicuous.

Standing outside the Sisters of Fragrance were a pair of men dressed in armour and the vermilion colours of the Emperor's Army. They casually leaned against the sides of the entrance, talking among themselves in gentle tones. Their rough laughter didn't travel far, but it was enough to show that they weren't on edge.

Brett could only watch and wait, "They look too comfortable for men with a Dark Mage in their presence."

"Then they have probably found the answer to their problems," Finn replied, "The Sisters of Fragrance always spends enough money on security. They do not need the Red Cloaks to act as guards."

Brett nodded, "Does Darla know you've been working for the Auction House?"

"No," Finn replied quietly, "She has enough on her plate already. I wouldn't want to bother her with such trivialities."

Brett spared a moment to look at the boy. Whatever thoughts flew through his mind, he shrugged them off and said, "I must say, Finn. I've always known there was more to you. For our first time on a mission together, I thought you'd be the one relying on me."

Finn paid more attention to the food in front of him. "That's the very reason I try not to accept help from Darla, no matter how many times she offers it."

"If your friend, Alaric, were here, would you reject his help as well?" the dark-skinned boy asked.

"He wouldn't offer it. If he was here, he would be asking me for help," Finn replied with a sigh.

"That makes him sound pathetic," Brett chuckled.

Before they could continue speaking, however, a loud explosion shook the vicinity. Tremours ran through the restaurant and the windows shuddered, drawing their attention outside the restaurant.

Outside, aether crackled, and the air was thick with smoke. Lying not far from the entrance was a girl with white hair. She lifted herself and struggled to stand, disoriented.

Meanwhile, not far from her, a blonde man dressed in light armour held his hand—or what was left of it, gritting his teeth in pain. The stub was dripping with blood yet sizzling like a hot knife dipped into cold water. His body was covered in dust and bruises. For a lower Stone Rank, he was not looking good.

The soldiers rushed up to the two of them with shocked expressions, "Get the girl!" the man yelled, "She's a healer."

One of the soldiers rushed to pick up the white-haired girl while another ran into the building to inform the others of what had just happened. Finn and Brett watched the scene with neutral expressions. Blood had spilt onto the road, and aether was still humming in the air, yet only suspicions arose, not sympathy.

"An experiment?" Brett questioned.

"No… A misused spell," Finn responded, squinting his eyes, "And from the looks of it, a Teleportation Spell. Something interfered with it, and it went terribly wrong."

Brett turned to Finn yet again, eyes narrowed, "How can you tell?"

"They appeared out of nowhere… and the burning aether reminds me of the Constellation of Space and Destruction: Novak," Finn replied thoughtfully, "Difficult spells. Not only do they require a rich well of aether, but a strong will as well. I can smell that aether anywhere."

"Okay… so they teleported in," Brett concluded, "But…"

Before he could speak, the world went cold as someone new stepped onto the scene. The aether stopped humming, and everything went silent. Even their small dome of silence seemed to quiver in the presence of this new arrival. Brett kept his eyes on the drink in front of him. 'Why did we come here?' his thoughts shivered.

His guardian growled from inside the In-Between, prompting Brett to yell at her, 'Stay put.' This was one of those times when running was the best, if not the only, chance of survival.

From the way Finn was staring at his food, Brett could guess he thought the same. "Don't look at him directly. He will sense your gaze." Finn warned.

The pressure was unmistakable. This was a Dark Mage, many times more frightening than demons. Not only were they humans using the magic of demons, but they also possessed the intelligence demons usually lacked.

Dark Mages were a direct counter for aether users, abominations comparable to demons, in the most basic sense.

Finn exhaled, keeping his heart rate normal and hoped for Constellations' sake that Brett was doing the same. At the same time, he listened to what was happening across the street. One moment, the tinkle of healing magic was all he could hear and the next, the sound of crushing bone, followed by a painful scream.

The scream was coming from the man who'd lost his hand in that teleportation spell.

'I wonder why that teleportation spell went wrong,' Finn thought to himself.

There was a hum in his mind, coming from his usually-quiet sleeping guardian before he gasped. He managed to hide his shock but his heart was beating a lot faster.

'Traces of the Great One's interaction, huh…' he thought to himself, 'The same Great One we need for you to fully awaken.'

Finn's mind went frozen… 'Does this mean we have a chance of meeting the Great One if we stay here and figure out what all this has to do with him?'

Another hum echoed through his mind, this one longer than the first. The boy gritted his teeth but eventually gave in to his guardian's cries, "Brett, we have to leave this city. I don't like where this is going."

"Much as I hate to say it, I agree with you. The least we can do here is help with the evacuation," Brett responded. "I'll report this to Captain Pixel when I get the chance. It's proof of something very sinister."

"With the appearance of the Sun dungeon, you'd think everyone's attention would have turned to it. Four-Star Artefacts like the Gauntlet of the Sun don't appear often," Finn responded.

"That could mean whatever's happening here is far more valuable than the Gauntlet, but then again, not everyone's obsessed with that thing. If we were to assume it were the case, then it's all the more reason for us to get out of here while we still can," Brett's voice was quivering, something Finn had never witnessed for as long as he'd known the boy.

The same could have been said for Finn had his guardian not mentioned the 'Great One's' presence or involvement with this situation. Actually, now that he thought of it, what were the odds that the very objective the Dark Mage was here to accomplish was directly linked to this 'Great One'.

Finn pressed his lips into a line. "I've never seen you scared."

"I'm not delusional," Brett chuckled, then took a shaky sip of his tea, "Our lieutenant often says, 'It's brave to fight strong enemies, but braver to know when not to fight.'"

"Wise words…" Finn sighed.

"That's why we're leaving Melbourne now."

Finn shook his head, "No, we are helping with that Evacuation. If you don't want to, then I will do it alone."

Brett looked around, eyes quivering with emotions he couldn't describe. He'd gone from expecting Finn to rely on him to being ordered by him. 'What's with this kid?' he cursed.

"Fine!" he gave in, "We help with the first evacuation, then we're out. Is that a deal?"

Finn ground his teeth, then said, "That will depend on the number of demons we find outside. If it's as bad as they say it is, we'll help with the whole evacuation."

"But if they can take care of themselves, we leave."

"Deal!" they both said in unison. Finn, of course, left out the part where he was going to keep an eye out for his guardian's so-called 'Great One.'

Moments later, the dark pressure eased up, giving the two boys the small window through which they exited the shop and vanished down an alley, heading straight for the inn.

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